Surging Renewables Keep Global CO2 Flat As Economy Grows

What happened? The IEA says its “data suggest that electricity generated by renewables played a critical role, having accounted for around 90% percent of new electricity generation in 2015.” Yes, a whopping nine out of 10 new power plants in 2015 were renewable — and five out of 10 were wind...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/03/16/3760809/renewables-global-co2-flat/

North America's largest coal power plant to become 44-MW solar farm

The Ontario Power Generation Nanticoke Generating Station was once North America's largest coal-fired power plant. It's now about to get a second life as a solar farm...
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2016/0316/North-America-s-largest-coal-power-plant-to-become-44-MW-solar-farm

And Now the Good News #178: 3/1/2016

Learn more about the stories featured in this video at the following sources:

“UNC-Chapel Hill researchers make groundbreaking discovery, use skin cells to kill cancer”
http://goo.gl/hqVQWG

“Solar cells as light as a soap bubble”
http://goo.gl/Yr7MhT

“Small study finds immunotherapy improves cognition in patients with schizophrenia”
http://goo.gl/yTVIX8
Interview:
https://youtu.be/GMtUc9L0LDw

‘Moth Eye’ Graphene Breakthrough Could Create Indoor Solar Cells

Researchers from the University of Surrey in the U.K. studied the eyes of moths to create sheets of graphene that they claim is the most light-absorbent material ever created. The energy capture method could be used to power Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as smart clothing, wearables and smart wallpaper...
http://www.newsweek.com/indoor-solar-cells-made-possible-moth-eye-graphene-breakthrough-430827

Even Without EPA’s Clean Power Plan, ‘The Future Is Bright For Wind And Solar’

The future for U.S. renewables is very bright with or without the EPA’s carbon pollution standards for existing power plants, a new analysis finds...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/02/25/3753539/clean-power-plan-wind-solar/

Oregon Could Soon Pass The Most Important Energy Bill Since The Paris Climate Talks

A bill that would require Oregon’s two largest utilities to phase out coal completely by 2030, coupled with a requirement to double the state’s renewable energy mandate, is working its way through the state Senate after being passed by the House earlier this year. If successful, environmentalists argue that it could represent some of the strongest environmental legislation in the state — and across the country — in decades...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/02/24/3752405/oregon-renewable-energy-bill/

Noor Concentrated Solar Power complex switches on | BGR

Solar power obviously isn’t the solution for every place on Earth, but for regions that largely consist of arid deserts it can deliver a lot of juice. Such is the case with the Noor Concentrated Solar Power that just switched on in Morocco and that is projected to produce enough power to meet the needs of 1.1 million people by 2018...
http://bgr.com/2016/02/08/noor-concentrated-solar-power-complex/

New report says the West Coast could cut its oil use in half by 2030 - CSMonitor.com

"We don't need a lot of fancy new technologies or breakthrough inventions to dramatically reduce our need for oil," said a UCS blog post announcing the report's release...
http://m.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2016/0205/New-report-says-the-West-Coast-could-cut-its-oil-use-in-half-by-2030

California’s Rooftop Solar Industry Wins In Head To Head With Utilities

The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved an extension to the state’s rooftop solar program, effectively extending the life of the industry and maintaining the thousands of jobs it supports...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/01/28/3743983/cpuc-favors-net-metering/

Renewables To Surpass Coal As World’s Primary Power Source By 2030

In November, the International Energy Agency quietly dropped this bombshell projection: “Driven by continued policy support, renewables account for half of additional global generation, overtaking coal around 2030 to become the largest power source.”...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/01/27/3712181/renewables-surpass-coal-2030/

The Future Of The Grid Is Here, In These Two Products | ThinkProgress

Enter electrical storage.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/01/20/3740643/storage-and-solar/

More People Work In U.S. Solar Industry Than In Oil And Gas Extraction

“It’s incredible,” SolarCity CEO and co-founder Lyndon Rive told ThinkProgress. “The industry employs over 200 thousand people — more than the coal industry.”...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/01/12/3737971/solar-job-growth/

Virus of Stupidity Plagues NC: Belief That Solar Panels Will Harm the Sun

The scene in a recent town council meeting in Woodland, North Carolina played out like a mediocre episode of South Park when ignorant townspeople used their back-country hick-town education to prevent the rezoning of land which would have been used for a solar farm due to concerns about the panels causing cancer, impeding photosynthesis, and sucking up too much sun.
https://youtu.be/1PH3e3kRrkI

Town Rejects Solar Farms After Complaints That They Would “Suck Up All the Energy from the Sun”

[Jane Mann] is concerned that photosynthesis, which depends upon sunlight, would not happen and would keep the plants from growing. She said she has observed areas near solar panels where the plants are brown and dead because they did not get enough sunlight.
She also questioned the high number of cancer deaths in the area, saying no one could tell her that solar panels didn’t cause cancer.
…
Bobby Mann said he watched communities dry up when I-95 came along and warned that would happen to Woodland because of the solar farms.
…
He said the solar farms would suck up all the energy from the sun and businesses would not come to Woodland...
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/12/13/town-rejects-solar-farms-after-complaints-that-they-would-suck-up-all-the-energy-from-the-sun/

Rooftop Solar Power To Be Mandatory In Dubai By 2030 | CleanTechnica

Some might say, however, it’s the goal of solar generating 75% of the city’s energy by 2050 that is more remarkable. On the way to achieving this goal is the requirement that 25% is generated by solar by 2030...
https://cleantechnica.com/2015/12/10/rooftop-solar-power-to-be-mandatory-in-dubai-by-2030/

Solar CEO On U.S. Congress: They Don’t ‘Know How To Spell Climate Change,’ Let Alone Act

“We have a toxic Congress that doesn’t know how to spell climate change, let alone do anything else,” de Pass said during a panel on renewable energy held during the forum at Le Petit Palais in central Paris...
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/12/07/3729021/conergy-ceo-to-congress-act-on-climate/

The Divestment Movement Has Grown 50-Fold In Just One Year

Investors representing $2.6 trillion in assets have pledged to cut fossil fuels from their portfolios, a fifty-fold increase from last year. At least 436 institutions have pledged to stop investing in fossil fuels — for moral or financial reasons. Large pension funds and private companies make up 95 percent of the assets, according to analysis released Tuesday by Arabella Advisors.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/09/22/3704205/divestment-movement-50-times-bigger-in-one-year/

139 Countries Could Get All of their Power from Renewable Sources

Energy from wind, water and sun would eliminate nuclear and fossil fuels.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/139-countries-could-get-all-of-their-power-from-renewable-sources1/

India unveils global solar alliance of 120 countries at Paris climate summit (The Guardian)

Narendra Modi announces a new alliance of nations and industry on large-scale expansion of solar energy use in the tropics and beyond...
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/30/india-set-to-unveil-global-solar-alliance-of-120-countries-at-paris-climate-summit

This Northwest City Just Passed The Strongest Resolution Against Fossil Fuels In The Country

Portland, Oregon just passed some of the strongest anti-fossil fuel regulations in the country.... Read more